In The Days of King Lionheart

That Was Not Fun

Partyon's Bad Day

16

AUG/16

Much as the flowing river will weather even the mightiest stone, the outside world is shaping me. Before I left Ng Mui, before I left my home, my life was constant harmony. Now I have been forced into the company of thieves and strangers to better myself before facing the evil Bak Mei.

The summoner in the dragon mask disappeared before we were able to detain him, but Felix is safe now. We killed the cultists and even felled the monster that they brought to deal with us. Our good news was not to reach Elzor’s ears unaccosted, however.

Upon our exit from the dragon’s den, a group of city guards led by a particularly duty bound captain brought us to their jail for protecting Felix. They were upset that we had done their job for them, so as punishment they made us clean up a strange mess in their sewers.

The cherry blossom looks beautiful in spring, but when summer’s breeze begins to blow no petal can cling to the tree. Before I left Ng Mui I was the best fighter, undefeated in the sparring ring. When I descended below Breton I was bested by a toad, a goblin, even almost a snake. This world is doing its best to shape me; I need to know when to bend in the breeze and when to stand tall.

The task that the captain of the guard gave to us was simple: find the one who was calling himself the Rat King and either arrest or kill him. The sewer was a strange place, full of all sorts of monsters and lost histories. We found a tomb, which Loopy and Raen happily looted. Loopy discovered some cages which were not nearly big enough for a full grown man. The only consolation with those cages was that they did not look like they had been used in years.

At home a stubborn ogre might have been some sort of metaphor that the elders would use to help us learn how to compromise and expand our minds. Outside the monastery a stubborn ogre is a particularly dumb beast named Jef who sits in the darkness below Breton stirring soup for some unknown man.

After far too much conversation we were finally able to get Jef to tell us that he had killed the old Rat King and had accidentally inherited the mantle. By this point the four of us did not want to go about fighting an ogre, particularly not one as friendly and welcoming as Jef. We collected the old Rat King’s medallion and headed back above ground.

The officers were so pleased with the information that we brought back that they requested our help in the future. We were told that some day in the near future a task would come to us to map and clean out the entire sewer system before the city. Truly a more just and noble cause has never been offered to me or many of my new friends.

The fireworks that blast over the full moon do nothing to increase the joy of the catfish who has eaten his fill. The lords of Breton may celebrate their pampered lives, but nothing has brought me more happiness then when Elzor presented my new companions and I with Tasker badges to call our own.